Mom's Ham and Bean Soup recipe

[Cooking Goddess]

Posted the pic to this recipe in the "What's for dinner Thursday 2-4" thread and had a request for the recipe. Luckily someone else on a different board had asked the same thing about a year ago. I never had a recipe, just notes from my Mom since this is her recipe. I looked through the bean soup recipes here and I didn't see one just like hers, so I though I would pass along. Be sure to not use a "maple" or "brown sugar" ham...the more old-fashioned and smokey the better. Enjoy! (You know you will...)

MOM'S HAM AND BEAN SOUP

1 bag Navy beans (16 oz)
ham bone with meat
1 onion
pepper to taste
carrots, potatoes (quantity up to you)
fried bacon, cut in 1/4 inch pieces - save drippings
flour for roux

Soak beans overnight. Drain and set aside. Bring 6-8 cups water to boil with bone; skim soup, then add beans, onion and pepper. Meanwhile, fry bacon, remove from drippings and set bacon aside. Leave drippings in pan, turn heat to very low, add equal amount flour, and prepare roux, stirring frequently. The ultimate roux is toasty brown and almost powdery. Prepare at least until very thick and golden. Set aside.

While roux is cooking you can peel and cut potatoes and carrots. I like mine diced small, but you can make them a bit larger if you prefer. About an hour before soup is done remove ham from soup, add carrots and potatoes. When ham cools cut meat away from the bone and fat, add meat back to pot. When potatoes and carrots are tender bring soup temperature up, add roux and simmer until soup is thick.

[Cooking Goddess]

Bump.

Talked ham and bean soup to a very nice couple while shopping today. Floating this recipe up near the top in case she stops by looking for it. After all, I talk up Discuss Cooking when I shop to anyone who will listen...and, sometimes, even when they don't want to.

[Cheryl J]

Oooh, sounds wonderful CG...I LOVE ham and bean soup. Thanks for bumping this.

Pretty similar to what my own mom used to make, but without the potatoes. It's definitely got to have bacon! We're supposed to get a little cooler weather in the next few days....may have to make this.

[Aunt Bea]

Reminds me of the days when our local butchers used to include a pound of beans or split peas with the purchase of a holiday ham!

[Cooking Goddess]

Cheryl, you don't have to add potatoes if you want it without. And if you're lacking a ham bone, a smoked shank will do. I sometimes use those bags of mixed beans for a ham-and-bean soup, but this recipe has a special flavor all its own. I've made it just once this winter, but I plan on making one more pot before the weather gets too warm. After seeing the weather report for the upcoming week, I think I'm running out of time!

Aunt Bea, you had good butchers. I don't remember ours ever doing that when I was a kid.

[Aunt Bea]

Originally Posted by Cooking Goddess

Aunt Bea, you had good butchers. I don't remember ours ever doing that when I was a kid.

Sounds like I was a kid before you were a kid!

I noticed this thread has had 2,778 views since it was originally posted, "Mom's Ham and Bean Soup" will be around for many years to come!

[Cooking Goddess]

I made a vat of this tonight. Will be sharing around: Goober already knows I'm bringing a quart when we head home for Christmas. Loverly will find out when we show up next week. And a quart will go to our neighbor who will be picking up our mail while we're gone. She LOVES my soups so I am very happy to gift her with my soup du not-quite-jour throughout the cold weather.

[Cheryl J]

Haven't had this in a while...boy, does it sound good. Thanks for bumping this up, CG.

[jennyema]

I've not seen these other posts and am really glad you put it up again!!

My boss usually gives me a ham for Christmas and I love me bean soup !

THANKS!!!!

[Addie]

CG, thanks for the "soaking beans overnight." I get so many arguments from those that never do the "soak." I feel that center nib that never gets cooked enough to say that they are DONE.! The soak gets rid of that hard nib.

If I don't have a ham or smoked shoulder bone, I pickup 2-4 smoked ham hocks. Depending on how many folks are going to be indulging themselves. And they cost so much less than a whole cut of smoked pork.

If I don't have any beans on hand, I will make a barley soup with the rest of the meat and veggies. I omit the potatoes.

[Whiskadoodle]

Since we stopped having New Year's Day party, no ham bone and I'm pretty sure I won't be gifted one either. Local meat market sells meaty ham bones, esp after the holidays, so they are still easy to come by, and not expensive.

[Cooking Goddess]

We have ham often, Whisk, but you can always use a smoked ham hock. I might be remembering wrong, but I think that maybe Kayelle made it once using smoked turkey legs. Not sure about that one, though. I did pick up a jar of Better Than Bouillon's ham "stock" figuring in a moment of desperation I could even use that with deli ham, or at least a ham steak from the meat department. Or even ham-less ham and bean soup?

[di reston]

This, for once is a direct version for what we call 'Pasta e Fagioli', a magnificent Roman dish. What I remember specially was that, when I was a student, then after, an interpreter in Rome, we youngsters use to gather in Piazza della Reppubblica, for the the buses waiting to take them off to military service, and we went to take them to lunch, and then to wave them off to two years of hard hard labour.

This the dish they invariably chose as their favourite:

Fagioli beans, or cannellini beans soaked overnight

A Trito of lots of garlic, onion celery and carrot in equal quantities.
About 1/2 kkg. white cannellini beans, and the same of good fresh chicken broth . 2 oog smoked ham cut into cubes, mixed herbs of rosemary sage, parsley and thyme.Chick stock made fresh.

For the pasta: small ish good quality ditalini, about 450g, cooked separately.

Make up the soup and let it boil for a while on the stove (If you don't have a stove, then on gas mark 4, or electricity about 185°C, even less.

When it's all ready, mix the pasta in to the soup and serve very hot. OH loved it when I did it yesterday.


di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscare Wilde

[Addie]

My daughter makes that all the time for her husband. She makes sure to send me some also.

[msmofet]

Thanks CG. Saved

[rodentraiser]

"Soak beans overnight. Drain and set aside. Bring 6-8 cups water to boil with bone; skim soup, then add beans, onion and pepper. Meanwhile, fry bacon, remove from drippings and set bacon aside. Leave drippings in pan, turn heat to very low, add equal amount flour, and prepare roux, stirring frequently. The ultimate roux is toasty brown and almost powdery. Prepare at least until very thick and golden. Set aside.

While roux is cooking you can peel and cut potatoes and carrots. I like mine diced small, but you can make them a bit larger if you prefer. About an hour before soup is done remove ham from soup, add carrots and potatoes. When ham cools cut meat away from the bone and fat, add meat back to pot. When potatoes and carrots are tender bring soup temperature up, add roux and simmer until soup is thick."

I'm having some problems interpreting this recipe. It says to bring 6 - 8 cups of water to a boil with the ham bone.

How long does it boil with the ham bone and do you add the beans at the start of cooking the ham bone or at the end?

Then it says "about an hour before the soup is done..." what is this referring to? The ham bone finishing being boiled?

Does the bacon get added when the potatoes and carrots get added and do I cover the pot when the ham bone is simmering (I assume that the pot is not covered when I add the roux and simmer until the soup is thickened)?

I'[m sorry, I'm not usually this dense.

[Cooking Goddess]

That's OK, rr. You guys have had rare snow up your way, you can be a bit flaky tonight.

I think you're making this harder than it is. You can vary from the recipe and still come out with a good pot of soup.

The ham is alone in the pot only as long as it takes the water to boil and the ham foam is skimmed. Then add the beans and, again, make sure there is no foam to skim. And then the onions. Then let it go until the beans start to get as soft as you like. We like ours very soft. Two hours of ham/beans simmering is probably the minimum. If I'm busy, sometimes this pot bubbles for 4+ hours. You're using the bone and attached ham to flavor the broth; take it out so that it cools enough to trim the meat off it and add back to the pot by the time you want to eat. The carrots and/or potatoes go in early if you want them to cook down completely, or later if you still want them to have "bite". The bacon and roux are more for another layer of flavor than for thickening. The beans make the soup plenty thick enough.

If you want a thinner soup, use more water or less beans. If you aren't interested in a very hammy flavor, use more beans. You can add garlic if you're trying to ward off a cold...or vampires. You can toss pureed tomato into it if you want a redder soup. This basic soup is good, but it doesn't mind if you play with it to make it your own. And speaking of playing...do you want to build a snowman?

[buckytom]

Mmmm, looks good CG.

I think I'll try this instead of pea soup with this year's Christmas ham bone. Thanks.

[rodentraiser]

Thanks, CG. I'm notorious for cooking by the seat of my pants even when I know I'm not a good enough cook to do so. As you can tell, I get overconfident real fast. But when it comes to first time recipes, I follow those like canon.

And I'm up to playing in the snow anytime! One forecast had us getting snow on Christmas - but I think they've given that idea up now.

[PrincessFiona60]

I think I deserve a pot of ham and bean soup...Shrek is not a fan.